Debt Consolidation

Debt consolidation products follow a straightforward pattern with Method: discover the borrower’s existing debts, verify current balances, and route payments directly to each creditor. This guide continues the James Rodriguez scenario from Getting Started, where Connect discovered 6 liability accounts.

Identifying Payable Accounts

From the Connect results, James has 6 liability accounts. Before building a consolidation plan, determine which accounts Method can actually send payments to by checking the products array on each account. Only accounts with payment in their products list are eligible for payoff through Method. This reflects whether Method has a payment rail to that specific creditor.

GET /accounts/{acc_id}
→ check for "payment" in the products array

Account ID	Creditor	Type	Balance	Payable via Method
`acc_WqNhMRNVZjbKg`	Chase Freedom Flex	Credit Card	$3,200	`payment` available
`acc_nPvJM9KXRwQE4`	Discover it	Credit Card	$1,800	`payment` available
`acc_TmGPLxkz7Nrh6`	Toyota Motor Credit	Auto Loan	$18,450	`payment` available
`acc_RkFqVbD8HjQxP`	FedLoan	Student Loan	$34,200	Data only (`balance`, `update`)
`acc_YXDrjADGjC76U`	Upstart	Personal Loan	$12,000	`payment` available
`acc_KpLnWzFt9Mjd3`	Rocket Mortgage	Mortgage	$245,000	Data only (`balance`, `update`)

Four of James’s six accounts support payment disbursement through Method. The FedLoan student loan and Rocket Mortgage provide real-time data (via update) for DTI calculations and underwriting, but payment routing to those servicers isn’t available through Method. If your consolidation product needs to pay off those accounts, you’d handle disbursement through your own payment rails. Your product’s underwriting logic determines which payable debts to consolidate. A typical consolidation product might target the two credit cards ($5,000 combined), while a broader consolidation loan might include the personal loan and credit cards ($17,000 combined).

Always verify payment is in the account’s products array before including an account in a consolidation plan. Attempting to create a payment to an account without payment coverage will return an error. Build your UI and underwriting logic to distinguish between accounts that are discoverable (visible via Connect) and accounts that are payable (eligible for disbursement through Method).

Verifying Balances with Account Updates

Before calculating disbursement amounts, pull real-time balances to ensure accuracy. The Application & Qualification guide covers Account Updates in detail. The key insight is that balances can change daily as transactions post and payments clear — a balance from application time may be stale by funding time.

Disbursing Funds to Creditors

Once your consolidation loan is approved and funded, use the Payments API to send funds directly to each creditor. Payments flow from your corporate funding account to the borrower’s liability accounts.

Pay Off the Chase Freedom Flex ($3,200)

curl https://production.methodfi.com/payments \
  -X POST \
  -H "Method-Version: 2025-12-01" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_WyZEWVfTcH7GqmPzUPk65Vjc" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "amount": 320000,
    "source": "acc_hmap9mbgfLcf9",
    "destination": "acc_WqNhMRNVZjbKg",
    "description": "Payoff"
  }'

{
  "id": "pmt_Qm4RnKx8Wb",
  "source": "acc_hmap9mbgfLcf9",
  "destination": "acc_WqNhMRNVZjbKg",
  "amount": 320000,
  "description": "Payoff",
  "status": "pending",
  "estimated_completion_date": "2025-09-22",
  "source_trace_id": null,
  "source_settlement_date": "2025-09-16",
  "source_status": "pending",
  "destination_trace_id": null,
  "destination_settlement_date": "2025-09-22",
  "destination_payment_method": "electronic",
  "destination_status": "pending",
  "reversal_id": null,
  "error": null,
  "metadata": null,
  "created_at": "2025-09-15T15:15:42.318Z",
  "updated_at": "2025-09-15T15:15:42.318Z"
}

Pay Off the Discover it ($1,800)

curl https://production.methodfi.com/payments \
  -X POST \
  -H "Method-Version: 2025-12-01" \
  -H "Authorization: Bearer sk_WyZEWVfTcH7GqmPzUPk65Vjc" \
  -H "Content-Type: application/json" \
  -d '{
    "amount": 180000,
    "source": "acc_hmap9mbgfLcf9",
    "destination": "acc_nPvJM9KXRwQE4",
    "description": "Payoff"
  }'

{
  "id": "pmt_Xp9TnLw3Vf",
  "source": "acc_hmap9mbgfLcf9",
  "destination": "acc_nPvJM9KXRwQE4",
  "amount": 180000,
  "description": "Payoff",
  "status": "pending",
  "estimated_completion_date": "2025-09-22",
  "source_trace_id": null,
  "source_settlement_date": "2025-09-16",
  "source_status": "pending",
  "destination_trace_id": null,
  "destination_settlement_date": "2025-09-22",
  "destination_payment_method": "electronic",
  "destination_status": "pending",
  "reversal_id": null,
  "error": null,
  "metadata": null,
  "created_at": "2025-09-15T15:16:08.774Z",
  "updated_at": "2025-09-15T15:16:08.774Z"
}

Both payments are now in pending status. Method will process the payments and deliver webhooks as each moves through the payment lifecycle: pending → processing → sent → settled.

Payment descriptions are limited to 10 characters. Use short labels like "Payoff", "Consolidat", or "Paydown".

Summary

The full debt consolidation flow combines four Method capabilities:

Step	API	Purpose
1. Discover debts	`POST /entities/{ent_id}/connect`	Find all liability accounts
2. Check coverage	`GET /accounts/{acc_id}` → `products`	Confirm which accounts support `payment`
3. Verify balances	`POST /accounts/{acc_id}/updates`	Get real-time balances and rates
4. Disburse funds	`POST /payments`	Route payments directly to payable creditors

What’s Next

Portfolio Intelligence

Monitor borrower liability, utilization, and delinquency signals continuously after origination.

Payments Lifecycle

Understand payment states, timelines, and webhook events.

Getting Started

Entities

Identity Verification

Connect

Accounts

Updates

Payments

Additional Products

Use Cases: Commerce

Use Cases: Lending

Use Cases: PFM

Identifying Payable Accounts

Verifying Balances with Account Updates

Disbursing Funds to Creditors

Pay Off the Chase Freedom Flex ($3,200)

Pay Off the Discover it ($1,800)

Summary

What’s Next

Portfolio Intelligence

Payments Lifecycle

​Identifying Payable Accounts

​Verifying Balances with Account Updates

​Disbursing Funds to Creditors

​Pay Off the Chase Freedom Flex ($3,200)

​Pay Off the Discover it ($1,800)

​Summary

​What’s Next

Portfolio Intelligence

Payments Lifecycle

Identifying Payable Accounts

Verifying Balances with Account Updates

Disbursing Funds to Creditors

Pay Off the Chase Freedom Flex ($3,200)

Pay Off the Discover it ($1,800)

Summary

What’s Next